SteamWorld Dig 2 review for Nintendo Switch, PS4, PC

Did you like SteamWorld Dig? Well, surprise surprise, you?re likely going to enjoy the heck out of SteamWorld Dig 2. It manages to build upon the base of its predecessor extremely well, offering up more room to explore, more upgrades to buy, and more secrets to uncover. That?s all wrapped within a charming, and sometimes disturbing, steampunk western motif that?ll be hard to forget when Game of the Year discussions come up a few months down the road. It?s definitely worth checking out, and even if you didn?t spend one minute with the original SteamWorld Dig, you?ll find the sequel to be easily accessible.

In SteamWorld Dig 2 you?ll take on the role of Dorothy, a robot attempting to locate Rusty, the protagonist from the first game that has gone missing. You?ll have a central hub town to revisit and buy upgrades from, but the actual game world is pretty expansive. There?s a series of above and below ground locations to explore, most of which house unique mechanics and hazards, along with different enemy types and secrets to uncover. The flow of gathering gems to sell and then earning new upgrades is spot on here, you?ll rarely go 20 minutes or so without making some sort of forward progression, which really helps to keep the momentum of SteamWorld Dig 2 alive.

And the act of digging through the environment by busting open rocks with your pickaxe, is as satisfying as it ever was in SteamWorld Dig. Dorothy has a lot of tools at her disposal to help with the exploration, including a water-powered jackhammer, a jetpack, a grappling hook, and more. As you approach the tail end of the game, and some of the environmental puzzles get a little more involved, it?s easy to be impressed with how each ability interacts to aid in your traversal. This makes SteamWorld Dig 2 an extremely satisfying game to play, and very hard to put down.

Also worth noting, while SteamWorld Dig 2 is and will be available on various platforms, it makes for a pretty good Switch game. You can play it in small bursts and pick it up at any time, and because of that it will make for a great on-the-go sort of game, much like its predecessor.

I would absolutely recommend this game to anyone, whether you?re familiar with the first SteamWorld Dig or not. Image and Form have done a fantastic job with this follow-up, and much like their track record so far with the SteamWorld universe, the experience here is impeccable.